


Be My Flower, Be My Sun

by orphan_account



Series: Forest AU's [7]
Category: In the Forest of Huckybucky, The Huckybucky Forest
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bodyguard, Claus is royalty, Flower meanings, M/M, Marvin is a Warrior, courting, im sorry I don't remember what they all mean, lol, they're important here okay, this is pure angst guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 16:58:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12845505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Marvin was young, he befriended Crown Prince Claus IV. Their friendship bloomed - until Claus stopped talking to Marvin. By a series of events, Marvin's family withered away and died, until all that was left was him. He runs away to learn to fight, and then, many years later, he becomes King Claus IV's bodyguard.





	Be My Flower, Be My Sun

**Author's Note:**

> In which Claus is royalty.

Once upon a time, there was a fox called Marvin, and Marvin was young, six years old, and happy. His mother, Mary, was healthy, if a bit on the thin side, and she was happy, too. As was his two sisters and brothers. As was his father, who desperately tried to make ends meet. They did not have much, but they had enough, and they were happy.

*

Marvin wasn’t sure how, but one evening he found himself being invited into the Royal Gardens, by none other than Crown Prince Claus IV himself, heir to the throne of the Huckybucky Kingdom. Marvin wasn’t sure how it happened, but he hadn’t forgotten his manners and be bowed and bowed and spoke quietly in whispers of _‘your Highness,’_ and _‘my prince_ ’ until Prince Claus laughed and told him to stand up.

“Just Claus,” the mouse had said, and his eyes were sparkling and Marvin found that he couldn’t say no.

*

Every evening Crown Prince Claus IV would find Marvin lurking around the Gardens, and he would laugh and help the fox climb over the walls and they would fall to a heap on the ground. Marvin apologized profusely every time, just as he did when he had accidentally broken something at home. And just like his mother, Claus would smile and smile and smile and say, ‘ _it’s fine, it’s fine, I like getting dirty_ ’.

*

Marvin’s parents didn’t believe him when he told them of his friendship with the Crown Prince, but they smiled and ruffled his hair and said, ‘ _good for you_ ’, and Marvin beamed up at them, because he didn’t know of the evenings where they would speak in hushed tones about what to do.

*

And as the years passed, Marvin became happier and happier by the Prince’s side. He showed great promise of becoming a fine young man, everyone said so, even Mister Hare, the baker on the corner, and he hated foxes so that _must_ mean something.

But Marvin made a mistake.

He believed them.

Claus became more and more distant as the months passed, closing in on himself like a flower does at nightfall, and Marvin couldn’t get him to open up again no matter what he tried. He resigned himself to the fact that he wasn’t Claus’ sun anymore, and that was fine, as long as he could be his friend, and Claus had promised that they would always be friends.

Marvin believed him.

Claus’ smiles grew rarer and rarer and the spark in his eyes disappeared. Marvin despaired about this, and cried at night and wondered if it was his fault but he did not dare ask. He was afraid that Claus, who never had spoken a false word to him, would lie and say _‘no_ ’. When the Prince was seen in the streets, he never looked at Marvin anymore and eventually Marvin stopped seeking him out.

In his head, he began to think of him as Crown Prince Claus IV, heir to the throne, and a part of him shattered because he had lost his friend.

*

Marvin was still happy, although a bit blue at the edges. He never allowed the sadness to take over him, however, because Crown Prince Claus IV was still alive, he had merely decided that to be seen with a fox would ruin his reputation.

(Marvin hated that thought, hated it hated it hated it _hated it,_ because that meant his friend had changed drastically and come on, they were never seen together after all and perhaps Claus just had to work on becoming a King they were older now anyways)

(Marvin waved the thought away and decided that Claus cared about his reputation, and it hurt more but that’s okay)

(Marvin probably deserved it anyways)

Yes, Marvin was still happy, and that was solely thanks to his parents and siblings. His family. He loved them with all his heart-

(except the part that Claus shattered that part could never love again and Marvin hated himself for being vulnerable)

-and they loved him back. So he got up in the mornings and he helped set the table and he plucked flowers for his mother, beautiful carnations, both pink and white and purple, and freesia and gladiolus and peony, and his mother, who knew something had happened to her dear son, took the flowers and only cried a little bit.

Then Mary became pregnant again and the family was overjoyed.

Marvin smiled more now, his two brothers hugged him almost daily and grinned at him, and his sisters sung on their way to school. His father beamed and worked harder than ever, because the little one needed to be taken care of when they came, he said.

And then the day finally came upon them, and Marvin was never the same.

Mary died during birth, and her tiny daughter was stillborn, dead before she had the time to know what it was like to be alive.

Marvin’s sisters never sung again. His oldest brother disappeared into the woods, never to be seen once more, and tears welled up in Marvin’s eyes every time he heard the neighbors whisper that Michael had become wild.

Marvin had a brother, a father, two sisters, and two tombstones.

His sisters, twins, were named Heather and Hydrangea, but they went by Heth and Hyddie. They were nearly identical, and loved each other dearly. They were nice, quiet children who didn’t deserve half of this, but the bullies didn’t care about that.

One day the two of them were found in the river, dead, but together. It was a small blessing.

And Marvin had a brother, a father, and four tombstones.

His little brother, Lyle, was seven when his beloved big sisters died, and he screamed and screamed and screamed and in the end he was deemed broken by the doctors, and was taken away to a mental hospital to never return.

And Marvin had a father.

Now, more than ever, Marvin needed him to stay cool, so that they could help each other. If they got through this then things would still work out and they could still live on and Marvin could still feign happiness.

But that didn’t happen, because Morris shot himself and left all his money to Marvin.

*

And then Marvin had no one.

*

It wasn’t much, but it was enough, and Marvin wrapped it all into a piece of cloth and grabbed all the food they had and left the house to never again return.

(And if the first place he ran to was the Royal Gardens, it wasn’t because he wanted to see Claus one last time, because he hadn’t heard or seen him in two years and Marvin was past that)

And Marvin ran, with a shattered heart and he thought that he would never be able to love again because he had no heart to love with. That night, he cried and cried and cried and that was the last time he cried for his friend and for his family.

For his heart.

*

And then…

Marvin had only himself.

*

The years passed slowly, and Marvin often felt like he was moving through syrup as he learned how to survive. He did not live, because living includes loving life and being happy and Marvin did none of these. Marvin _survived_ , and he survived merely because he-

(wanted to see Claus again and he wanted it so desperately)

-because he wanted to be happy again and he refused to be weaker than he already were, he refused to become his father, to become his sisters, to become his brother who ran away.

So Marvin trained, and he read when he could and he became bitter and angry and he rarely talked and when he did he was sarcastic and mean, because if that’s what the world wants out of a fox then who was Marvin to deny it?

In the end, Marvin joined the group called _Anneti,_ who trained their recruits to become fighters and warriors and assassins, and Marvin needed to do something in his life and this was what he did.

*

Ten years after Marvin escaped (escaped, escaped, he did not run away he had _escaped_ ) he was one of the best fighters in many miles, and when asked about it the answer was always ‘ _Anneti is my life. I have nowhere else to be. Nothing else to do,_ ’ and people accepted that.

And Marvin liked fighting. He liked being a warrior, and this was something he could do, something he was good at, and he had no plans to move from this place or change what he was doing and for once, he actually felt like he was getting somewhere.

He was not happy, but he was content and if that was all he was going to get then he was fine with that.

Then King Claus IV sent a letter to the Anneti, and he asked for their best fighter because he needed bodyguards.

*

Marvin was sent, because Marvin was the best and he had no say in this, and he felt his shattered heart ache at the thought of seeing his childhood friend again, although he knew deep down that King Claus would not recognize him.

*

Marvin did not like bowing down to anyone, because it showed they were superior and Marvin had few superiors.

King Claus, however, was one of them, and he bowed down gladly on one knee and muttered, “Your Majesty,” because that’s what you say to kings, you don’t say ‘ _old friend’_ or _‘I have missed you’_ or _‘What happened, why did you stop talking to me, where were you when I needed you’_.

After an eternity, King Claus hummed and said, “Rise, fox, and speak your name.”

Marvin rose, and took in his King where he sat in his throne. He was wearing silks, silks in deep red and forest green and on top of his head was a crown shining as bright as the midnight stars. His eyes, who had once held sparks of mirth and mischief, were now cool and calculated, and Marvin was afraid that his friend was lost forever.

He swallowed and met his King’s gaze and spoke clearly. “My name is Marvin of the Anneti, your Majesty.”

And something flared to life in King Claus’ eyes and he suddenly sat even straighter. Another eternity of silence passed, as a thousand emotions flickered in dark brown eyes, and Marvin stayed silent because he knew.

“I was not… aware that you had chosen this path,” King Claus said slowly, and Marvin’s breath hitched because he remembered him and God things would have been easier if he hadn’t.

Bowing his head, Marvin replied, “If you wish I may return to Anneti and send someone else, instead of me, your Majesty.”

Panic flashed over King Claus’ expression before he shook his head lightly and gave the smallest of smiles. “Stay,” he said simply. “Join the bodyguards. I will speak to you later.”

Marvin nodded once, ignoring the wave of relief that crashed over him because that smile was genuine and honest and sweet.

He walked quickly over to stand guard along the walls, where other animals like him were standing, expressions solemn and flat.

Marvin swallowed once, and accepted his place among predators and prey alike.

Within a week, he would know them all by name, but it would be of necessity rather than want.

*

They were in the Royal Gardens again, and Marvin had to close his eyes because when he were here, the memories still seemed fresh and he could almost sense the shadows of the past, shadows of a happier time. A time where _he_ had been happy, and when King Claus had laughed and smiled and joked and been his friend.

“Leave us,” King Claus said, and the four bodyguards who had followed them marched away. Marvin stared after them, and something inside of him twisted at the thought of King Claus trusting him. Then Marvin turned around to look down at the King, because foxes are after all larger than mice, and he wondered if he should kneel again so that they would be on the same eye level.

But before he could do that, King Claus tore off his crown and pulled Marvin down so that he could wrap his arms around his torso. Marvin froze, at first, but then he exhaled heavily and returned the embrace, and that was when Claus began to cry.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, in between the sobs, and clutched at Marvin’s shirt and buried his face in his chest. “I couldn’t- I wasn’t allowed- I had to study all the time and I’m so sorry Marvin, and then you disappeared and I thought you had died-”

Marvin didn’t reply for a very long time as he held his friend –because that was what Claus was, his friend and his King, and he had never truly left him. He curled up around them and put his chin on top of Claus’ head, and held on tighter than he’d ever held, because Claus had thought he was dead and Marvin had thought Claus hated him, and they were both so, so wrong. “I thought you hated me,” he finally said, after Claus had more or less stilled. And it was okay to say this because this was Claus, this was the mouse he had climbed walls with and the mouse that had pranked him and that had said ‘ _just Claus_ ’ when Marvin used his titles.

This wasn’t a King, this was his friend.

“I’d never hate you,” Claus whispered, and pulled back to look at his face. “What happened to you?” he asked quietly, and reached out to brush his fingers against one of the scars that ran across Marvin’s cheek.

“I grew up,” Marvin replied. “And the world realized I was a fox and then everything went to hell.”

And Claus smiled through his tears and said, “I don’t care what you are.”

And Marvin smiled and smiled and smiled and said, “I know.”

*  
Every evening Claus would pull Marvin out into the Royal Gardens to speak with him, and who was Marvin to decline and disobey his king?

*

“Why did you want bodyguards?” Marvin said one evening, as he plucked a white lily and handed it over to Claus, who giggled. He had never been too fond of the cleanness and order of the Gardens anyways, a flower more or less didn’t matter.

“There are people who don’t like that there are mice who rule the Kingdom,” the mouse replied, and tried to place the lily into his braided hair. It didn’t work, and Marvin grinned and leaned forward to help him. “And some of them have the power and strength to do something about it.”

Marvin huffed and showed his teeth in a snarl, all playfulness forgotten at the prospect of his King, his friend, being in danger. “Not if I have any say in it,” he muttered, claws fluttering across the hilt of his dagger. He was not that good at sword fighting (he was still better than most), although he was a master at using daggers and bows, and in paw-on-paw combat you would have to look for long and even longer to find his match. If it came to protecting his friend, or his King, for that matter, he would not be lacking in skill.

Claus turned and smiled at him, the wide smile that Marvin had missed so. “I know, Marvin,” the mouse said, and wrapped an arm around the fox’ waist. “I know.”

*

“This Garden _must_ be called the Love Garden,” Marvin said one day, and Claus asked him how so. And Marvin pulled his friend up and walked him through the garden, pointing at each flower and telling him its meaning. Acacias, forget-me-nots, honeysuckles, lilacs, lilies, myrtles, primroses, roses, tulips and violets… all of them having something to do with love, and Marvin explained it all to Claus and Claus stared up at him with something shining in his eyes, and Marvin had to avert his eyes because that something was too raw, too private to look at.

Then Claus shot a look at one of the other Gardens, one that held Achillea Millefolia, anemone, Adonis and Aloe, and asked him what they meant.

Marvin’s expression broke a little and he whispered that Claus would rather not know, and Claus trusted him on that as they returned to the Love Garden, because Marvin was right and that was where they always spoke.  

*

They were sitting among tulips and almonds and alstroemeria and sunflowers, and Marvin had a creeping sense of suspicion because mere days ago he had seen Claus bent over a book on flower meanings, so surely he knew what they meant?

Besides, Claus was nervous and fiddling with his fingers and he kept licking his lips and- “Tell me what’s going on,” Marvin said, because he could tell something was. He could always tell when something was.

And Claus took a deep breath and blurted, “I wish to court you,” and Marvin closed his eyes because this was bad.

“The Kingdom doesn’t need me,” he said slowly, and refused to look at his friend as he broke his heart. “The Kingdom needs a young, healthy mouse that can bring you children, not a worn male fox. Besides, they probably don’t want me, either.”

“The Kingdom may not need you, and it may not want you, either, but _I_ do,” Claus replied.

“And if you marry a nice lass then I will still be by your side,” said Marvin, softly, turning to look at his friend, his King, while begging him to understand. “As I will always be.”

But Claus did not understand, and he shook his head. “I cannot bear the thought to have anyone but you with me,” he whispered. “And it would be even worse to have someone, but still long after you.”

“The Kingdom doesn’t need me,” Marvin repeated firmly. “But if you had been anything but its ruler, I would not hesitate to take you up on the offer.”

Claus closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, and when he exhaled again his breath shuddered. “Very well, then,” he said. “If you ever change your mind, you will know where to find me.” And with that, he stood up and left, a single almond twig clenched in his hand.

*

Claus wore that twig at him at all times, and when the flowers died he would walk out into the Gardens and pick a new one. No one ever asked him what he was hoping for, but Marvin knew and it hurt.

*

After Marvin had escaped, he rarely felt fear, especially that kind of fear that suffocates you, steals all the air from your lunges and pours ice-cold water into your veins. But now he felt it, that kind of fear, and he swallowed and swallowed and swallowed and tried not to let it show because that’s what bodyguards do, they keep a blank mask on because they’re merely soldiers they aren’t people, they aren’t really there.

And King Claus frowned in worry and asked _‘are they serious? Do you really believe they will go through with this?_ ’

And his advisor, Morten, sighed and said _‘yes_ ’ and Marvin closed his eyes because this was hard enough from before he need not see the way Claus’ eyes flickered over at him, a question in them.

But Marvin _did_ see, and he recognized the question for what it was and he nodded once, because of course he would protect his King if it ever came to that, a group of assassins would not now, would not ever change that.

*

Marvin took to standing guard at the Royal Quarters all night, even when it was not his turn to have guard duty. His fellow bodyguards shot him some looks the first few times, but they eventually ignored him. Sometimes, Marvin would be too tired to keep his eyes open even when he stressed to himself that he had to, and Claus would find him the next morning, blearily blinking his eyes open at the noise of another creature nearby.

And Claus would crouch down in front of him and his eyes would be sad, oh so sad, and he would say, _‘when I asked you if you would protect me I did not want you to neglect your personal needs,_ ’ and Marvin would shake his head and stare straight back with just as sad eyes, and he would speak in hushed tones.

 _“_ I can’t give you what you want so I will have to give you what I want you to have,” he said, and Claus would smile sadly and pull him up to his feet with a muttered _‘the offer still stands_ ’ and they were the only ones who knew what he spoke off.

*

Claus was fond of saying _‘the offer still stands,_ ’ and he said it nearly every day whenever he deemed it appropriate.

*

Then Marvin one day sighed, and even though it broke his heart, he went into the Gardens and plucked some butterfly weeds and he braided them carefully into his tail.

*

After three days, Claus swapped out the almond twig with a cypress twig. Two days later, and a mourning bride flower took its place, and everyone suddenly understood everything.

*

Claus never more said _‘the offer still stands_ ,’ but Marvin knew that Claus had not truly given up on him and it pained him to his very core, but he could not take him up on it because the Kingdom needed heirs, and Marvin could never give Claus that.

*

When Marvin found Claus, he was sitting in the Garden of Death. “I found out what they mean, you know,” Claus said quietly, and he slowly took off his crown and placed it in his lap. “War, and shame, and sorrow and grief. Mourning and death.”

“I am sorry,” Marvin said as he walked over to where Claus sat, on the ground. “But you know that we can never be.”

“Yes, yes,” Claus grumbled, and Marvin sat down opposite of him with crossed legs, but Claus refused to look at him. “The Kingdom doesn’t need you and all that.”

When Marvin noticed the yellow tulip his King held in his paws, there was a painful tug at his heart and he had to look away, because yellow tulips meant hopeless love. As Claus pulled out another flower, this time a violet, he said, “But I will never love anyone but you.”

( _faithful love faithful love faithful love Marvin couldn’t breathe_ )

The fox gathered the much smaller mouse in his arms and pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head. “I want you as much as you want me,” he said quietly, and Claus gave a shuddering breath.

“It’s just your stubborn sense of honor that’s keeping us apart,” he muttered into Marvin’s chest, and Marvin smiled a small smile.

“I will never be able to give you heirs,” he pointed out, and Claus huffed.

“Surrogate mothers and adoption.” His words were calm and collected, but after six months in his friend’s presence, Marvin had learned to recognize his King mask, and he was using it now.

“There is no easy way to love you, not in this life,” Marvin muttered. “Had we been anyone else, anywhere else… happiness would not be beyond us. Beyond me.”

Claus pulled back to stare angrily up at Marvin. “Then let’s run away!” he snarled, and Marvin gaped at him.

“You don’t mean that,” he said, and Claus nodded fiercely.

“You know I do!”

“And leave the Kingdom with no rulers, no heirs, no nothing?” Marvin shook his head slowly. “No. That is not an opportunity and it will destroy a whole Kingdom. That would not be worth it.”

There was a moment where Claus seemed like he would argue, but then he deflated and sunk into Marvin’s embrace again. “I guess,” he muttered, and Marvin sighed heavily. “But Marvin, is it not better to have two happy rulers instead of one, without heirs and without a love?” There was a pause, and then Claus gasped lightly. “You cannot expect me to marry to someone I do not love, while you are here, just out of my reach! This already hurts so much, you cannot tell me to make it worse-”

He was cut off when Marvin pulled back and pressed their lips together, successfully shutting him up. Claus made a surprised noise, but then he kissed back with such a desperation that Marvin was filled with a bittersweet sadness because just now did he realize that the pain he had been feeling all along had been inflicted upon Claus, too.

And was Marvin not a bodyguard, supposed to guard his King from danger and hurt?

“Fine,” he grumbled, when they finally broke the kiss off. “I’ll take you up on the offer.”

Claus’ eyes widened and he gaped. “Pardon?”

Marvin rolled his eyes. “I cannot be such a good kisser that I have melted your brains; I accept your courtship.”

Tears welled up in Claus’ eyes, but before Marvin had the time to become alarmed or anything of the likes, the mouse made a whining noise and kissed him again.

*

And Marvin asked Claus one day what he was, what were his titles, and Claus smiled up at him with wide and happy eyes and he said _‘whatever you want_ ’.

Marvin never got any title beyond Lord and that was that, he was Lord of Huckybucky and he still had to bow down to the King, but the people were at least a little bit happy and the assassins took this as a great sign and Marvin did not have the responsibility that he did not want. A Lordship he could handle, that was easy enough, but the thought of being a ruler frightened him, because he was scared of what he could do if he was given the chance.

*

In the quiet hours of twilight, after the sun had set but before night could truly fall, they sat in the Gardens of Peace, and sometimes Marvin would teach Claus chess and he would smile at the warm sense of pride that flowed through him whenever Claus succeeded.

And sometimes they would talk, and sometimes they would sit in silence, but most often, they watched as the flowers closed in on themselves, and Marvin would gather Claus in his arms and kiss him softly because he had been wrong all these years.

( _he had thought that he was not Claus’ sun but he had been wrong_ )

( _he had been so, so wrong_ )

*

When they married, this was the vow he gave,

 _‘I will always be your sun, if you will always be my flower._ ’

And Claus beamed at him and his eyes were filled with tears and he whispered _‘I will, I promise I will._ ’

And that was that.

Happily ever after.


End file.
